


Pomegranate

by Diary



Series: Where the Apple Falls [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Bechdel Test Pass, Canon Character of Color, Conversations, Dessert & Sweets, Disturbing Themes, Family, Friendship/Love, Gen, Minor Allison Argent/Scott McCall, POV Female Character, POV Kate Argent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-04
Updated: 2016-03-04
Packaged: 2018-05-24 14:59:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6157362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Repost. “You couldn’t have picked less traumatised kids?” Complete.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pomegranate

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf.

Shifting the phone, she says, "Nope."

“Kate,” Chris says, “this is serious. If Derek Hale is turning teenagers-”

Rubbing her forehead against the headache forming, she interrupts, “I didn’t say it wasn’t serious, and you don’t have to tell me what the implications are. I have a price on my head, Chris. Handle it yourself or choose someone else.”

“I need you to do it.”

She scoffs. “It’s nice to know you care so much about my life.”

“If Derek or his pack tries to hurt you, I have no doubt you can put them down.”

“And my emotional well-being.”

“What in the- Your emotional well-being?”

Wincing, she shrugs. “Yeah, guess what, Chris? I was fond of the kid. Talia didn’t piss me off. Peter was so outside the code it’s hard for even me to find it funny, but shooting him in front of Derek and a teenage kid- I can admit that wasn’t my best moment. It might have been my only, but not my best.”

“Oh."

“Oh,” she repeats. “Find someone else.”

“Allison wants to go back to see that boy.”

“Scott?”

“I don’t want her to go alone, especially if he’s turning kids, but Victoria and I both have our hands full. If we don’t let her go, she’s just going to run.”

“Fine. You could have saved us both by opening with that. I’ll be there in a day or two to pick up my favourite niece.”

…

Allison is waiting outside the house when Kate pulls up.

“Kate!”

Allison bounces over, and Kate hugs her tightly. “How’s my girl?”

Coming outside with a suitcase and bag in her hands, Victoria says, “I’ve packed her laptop and archery equipment. Make sure she submits her homework in time.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Allison says. “It’ll be fine.”

“That boy isn’t to stay at the hotel, and keep her away from Derek Hale.”

“Mom-"

“I’ve got it handled,” Kate promises. “Nice to see you, Victoria. Allison, say goodbye and get in the car.”

...

Once they’ve driven away, Kate says, “Here’s the deal, sweetie: I don’t care what you do with Scott, but your mom’s right. Things didn’t end well with me and Derek, and he might be dangerous now.”

She explains the situation.

“I’m not sure how I feel about him changing kids, but why wouldn’t he understand about Peter?"

“Sweetie, I’ve done a lot of regrettable things in my life. Say someone comes after me for one of those things and shoots me in front of you. Now, maybe their reason is legit. Maybe I killed someone who was truly innocent, or maybe I tortured them or someone they loved. Maybe they don’t have a good reason. Whatever it is, how would you react?”

“I don’t like it when you talk like this,” Allison says.

Kate sighs. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but you aren’t a kid anymore. The fact is, your dad and me didn’t have what you had growing up. Gerard screwed us over and good, and your dad- well, he got lucky and met your mom. She helped him in many ways. And me? I’m just glad you weren’t around or old enough to really know me back then.”

“I didn’t mean that. I meant about you dying.”

“Hey, kiddo, don’t worry. I don’t have any big plans to bite the big one anytime soon.”

Allison nods. “I’m sorry about you and Derek."

“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. Just don’t go near him or any of the Hales.”

…

Gerard has her niece against her throat.

“Let her go, Gerard.”

Gerard has Allison, and she lays down her weapon.

“Let her go, Gerard.”

Gerard has a knife against her throat.

“Let her go, Gerard.”

Kate wakes up with a finger on the trigger of her gun and is relieved she and Allison have separate rooms.

She gets up, washes her face, and for a brief second, she sees blue eyes staring at her.

“Get it together, Kate,” she tells herself.

…

Once Allison is safely at the McCall house, Kate goes into the woods.

She wishes she could say she was ashamed or even surprised to find herself hanging upside down in a trap, but a careless hunter is a dead hunter, and she’s self-aware of her, at times, unconscious flirtation with death.

Really, she’d blame Chris, but she knows how much he’d hate having to give her a funeral. Yet, he’d still do it, because, he’s the golden boy.

Two werewolves land in front of her, and with a sinking feeling, she knows the likelihood of Derek turning kids has just gone up.

One of them is Cora. The other is a tall, gangly boy with yellow eyes.

He could be from a visiting pack, but all her sources say the Hales are the only current pack in town.

Back when Derek was a kid, he talked her ear off about his family. She warned him to be careful whom exactly he shared such information with but never stopped him. She remembers details, and this boy doesn’t fit any of them.

“Sorry,” the boy immediately apologises. “Um-”

He looks over at Cora, and she announces, “We kill her.”

Before the claws can make contact, he’s grabbed her wrist. “Derek!”

Derek appears from seemingly out of nowhere. “Kate.”

“She needs to be killed, Derek,” Cora insists.

“No,” he says, and his eyes flash red. Then, he orders Kate, “Be still.”

She finds herself standing upright on solid ground.

“Does, uh, does she know about us?”

“I know all about werewolves, kid, but you specifically, I know nothing about.”

“I’m- I’m Isaac Lahey,” he offers.

“Kate Argent. I hunt werewolves and other supernatural creatures. I’m also the one who a put a bullet in the last Hale alpha’s head.”

He looks stricken, Cora twitches in an obvious effort to avoid attacking, and Derek simply looks exasperated.

The last one makes her the most off-balanced.

“Do you have your gun and a working Taser?”

“Of course,” she answers.

“Want to come with us?”

“Why not?”

…

Stumbling when she enters the Hale house, she feels her stomach twist.

_Let her go, Gerard._

“Kate?”

There’s fear in his voice as he holds her up, and looking into green eyes, she sighs.

“I don’t remember the last time I ate, and I think I might be coming down with a bug.”

He relaxes some, and she rolls her eyes. “Someday, Hale, I might figure you out.”

A frizzy-haired, blonde teenager appears with a plate full of colourfully decorated gingerbread wolves.

“Cute,” she comments. Derek leads her to the couch. “How many new ones are there?”

“Three,” Isaac answers. He snaps up a wolf.

“Those are for guests, first,” the girl informs him.

“You’re just mad I ate the last slice of that silk cake.”

“It was chiffon,” the girl corrects. “And I was saving it for Boyd.”

“With all the people at school you flirt with, why don’t you just ask him out?”

“That had better not be a jab,” the girl warns.

Picking out a grey wolf with blue eyes, Derek it hands it to Kate. “Erica, Isaac, could you go get some ginger ale and something to eat besides baked goods?”

They bounce off, and Kate leans back.

“You’re here because of them?”

“Of course, I am, sweetie. Nice kids. But keyword being kids.”

“We all asked for the bite,” a different kid says.                 `

This one is big, black, and wearing an army jacket.

“I’m not going to make it through the weekend,” she mutters.

To her amused irritation, Derek actually looks alarmed at this.

“Hi. Kate Argent. I killed Derek’s uncle. You are?”

“Boyd,” he answers.

“We protect Derek,” Erica says. “I found some acetaminophen and NSAIDs. Do you like the ginger snaps?”

“They’re delicious. You sounded more menacing when you were complaining about that one eating your cake.”

Erica shrugs. “Why would I need to sound menacing towards you? Derek’s really strong, and there’s more than just the three of us. We’re werewolves, you’re human.”

“Fair enough.” She feels herself grinning.

Isaac sets down a plate of fish, broccoli and cheese, and toast and a can of old-fashioned ginger ale.

…

After the kids have wandered off and a giant creature Derek claims is a tortoise but has pinchers, a beak, and in general, resembles a prehistoric creature has made itself at home against her leg, Derek tells her a little about his three new betas.

“Erica was severely epileptic. I came across her when...”

“Couch Lahey was locking Isaac in a freezer in the basement. I found out by...”

“I didn’t plan on biting Boyd, but he...”

She sighs. “You couldn’t have picked less traumatised kids?”

To her surprise, he’s obviously fighting off a smirk. “You can threaten them, Kate. I chose them because they’re so strong.” Before she can respond, he adds, “And because they can lure children here on Halloween.”

“And you want this because?”

Without fully shifting, his eyes turn red, his fangs appear, and he growls.

She laughs. “Aw, when did you get such a sense of humour, Derek?”

Shrugging, he answers, “I’ve always had one.”

Fair enough, she supposes. When he was a kid, no matter how informal they got, some part of him was always respectful and perhaps a little intimated of her. After Talia and Laura were killed, he was focused solely on finding out what truly happened.

“Right." Standing up, she pulls him along. “Well, you’ll just have to take the brunt of it.”

“Isaac, Erica, Boyd,” he calls.

They appear, and he tells them, “Don’t be scared, it’s fine.”

“Actually,” she tazes him, “be scared.”

They start to move forward, but he shakes his head. 

“I don’t hurt innocent werewolves, but if any of you go around hurting humans, I don’t care if you’re a teenager, I don’t care that might you have human loved ones, and I don’t even care if you manage to kill me. I’ll make sure you’re put down. Derek let me down this to him,” she gestures to where Derek’s propped up on his elbows on the floor, “but his uncle wasn’t the only alpha I’ve taken down. I’ve killed 47 omegas and 15 betas. I’ve taken down things besides werewolves. In addition, as much as my brother and his wife hate me, they tend to notice when I’m off-the-grid for very long. Do you each understand?”

They all nod.

“Good. Have fun on Halloween. Make sure Derek here isn’t too lame.”

She makes the mistake of looking down and laughs at what his eyebrows are doing.

Turning, she starts to walk out and hears Derek jump up.

Her phone rings, and she stops. “Hey, Allison.”

“Scott and I are trapped in a freezer, and the police thought I was making a prank call!”

“Whoa, okay, what?” Spotting a nearby laptop, she opens it and finds it’s password protected. Giving Derek a look, she says, “Honey, stay calm, and tell me what exactly’s going on.”

As Erica enters the password, Allison explains, “We were at the vet, and a woman with a gun came in. I grabbed a knife,” (good girl, Kate thinks with pride), “but she grabbed Scott and put the gun to his head! She put something very heavy against the door. The safety release and pushing aren’t working, and I think Scott’s about to have an asthma-”

“Keep him calm, sweetheart.” She looks helplessly at the numerous articles on getting odours out of freezers. “Do you know what type of freezer it is?”

The clinic is in the middle of town, and the Hale house is on the outskirts. Even assuming she drives as fast as one of the Hale cars will go, McCall could die of an asthma attack before she got there.

She will demolish the police station with a sledgehammer if this happens.

“No,” Allison answers. “Just- hey, look at me, focus on my pulse, we’re going to be okay, just keep breathing with me.”

Someone touches her shoulder, and she looks over to see Boyd. “Tell them to do this,” he orders.

“Okay, Allison?”

“Yeah?”

“Listen to me.” She repeats the instructions Boyd gives her.

“Oh, dear God, what in the hell did we just do,” Allison exclaims. Then, “Uh, we’re out. I think we both suffered minor heart attacks, but we’re out, Aunt Kate, and Scott’s okay. The woman’s gone. Seriously-”

“Not now, kiddo. I’ll get the police, and we’ll come as fast as we can. Stay there. Okay? I love you, baby girl.”

“I love you, too, Kate.”

They hang up, and she looks at Boyd. “As grateful as I am: Tell me exactly how and why you know how to blow up a window using animal medicines.”

“I asked my chemistry teacher for a story I was writing in A.P. English.”

“Let me guess. Harris?”

He nods, and Derek looks away.

She had a bit of fun with Harris back in the day, and Derek hadn’t liked this.

Admittedly, a drunk who hates teenagers really isn’t someone who should be teaching in a high school, but then, she’s sure people would say a woman who spends her life hunting down werewolves, never went to college, and only graduated high school because she blackmailed a few teachers isn’t, either.

“Right." Reaching up, she kisses him on the cheek. “Well, thank you.”

“I’ll drive you,” Derek says.

…

“Kate!”

Rushing over, she hugs Allison. “Hey, kiddo. You and Scott okay?”

Allison nods. “They took him in the ambulance.” She pauses when she sees Derek. “What’s he doing here?”

“He’s my ride. Don’t worry, sweetheart. Right now, we’re good. He and his betas helped save you.”

Taking a breath, Allison says, “I’m sorry. I gave her the keys, and she took the car.”

“Don’t apologise,” she orders. “You did what you had to in order to keep you and Scott alive.”

Nodding, Allison leans into her. 

…

“I’m pretty sure this isn’t a tortoise,” Allison politely declares.

“How in the hell did that thing even manage to sneak into the trunk in the first place,” is Kate contribution. “Allison, stop rubbing its stomach. As far as we know, it’s not part of the canine family. Although, if you see its eyes change colour-”

“Please, don’t kill my sister’s pet,” Derek interjects.

“Which sister?"

After a moment of hesitation, he answers, “Cora’s.”

“That thing was originally Peter’s, wasn’t it?”

He pulls into the hotel parking lot. “Kate, could I talk to you for a minute? Privately.”

“Sweetie, go on in,” she tells Allison.

Allison hesitates.

“I’m not going to hurt your aunt, Allison. I promise.”

“And I’ll try not to hurt him. Take the creature,” Kate says. “He won’t hurt me while you have it, and I’ll feel better.”

Once Allison is inside, Derek says, “I’m not going to stop you from giving the police more hell, but I can’t let you go after the person who did this. She’s human.”

She scoffs. “If you want to put yourself, your family, and those sweet little kids you bit in front of some junkie’s life, go ahead, sweetheart. She put my niece in a freezer. She put her in a situation where there was a very real risk she’d have to watch the boy she’s in puppy love with die. I’ll kill all of you or die trying if you get in my way.”

“Your code-”

“This is my niece we’re talking about. You know what I’d do for Allison. Or at least, you should by now.”

There’s silence for a long moment.

“Earlier, you said you might be coming down with a bug. Were you- did you mean that?”

The question throws her.

“It’s probably best you just get to whatever you’re really trying to ask, Hale. For all my talk about saying what you mean and meaning what you say, I’ve never claimed brutal honesty. Yeah, I lie, and I do it well. But why I’d lie about something like that is behind on me. I’ve been feeling like crap recently, and I hope to hell it’s just a bug instead of something worse.”

He sighs. “Don’t kill the messenger.”

“I make no such promises.”

“You should take a pregnancy test.”

She quickly does some math in her head.

After muttering several blasphemies, she sees he’s subtly scooted as close to the door as he can.

“Two questions."

He nods.

“One, did you decide to halt vengeance for your uncle because of this?”

“No.”

“Good.”

“Are you going to terminate?”

“I don’t know,” she mutters. “For my second question, I want you to promise you aren’t going to contact Chris.”

“Why would I do that?”

Feeling irritable, she shrugs. “Because, that’s the story of my freaking life. People who have no business doing it always end up calling Chris or Victoria about some problem they have with me.”

Ignoring his sympathetic look, she continues, “Second question- a werewolf male and a human female conceive. If the kid’s born, what’s it going to be?”

“A were-” He trails off.

“Look, kid, I don’t know if you’ve ever been with a human girl or woman, but I know you’ve had crushes on them before. It would be a really bad idea to judge me right now.”

“I’m not a kid,” he says. “And I wasn’t judging you. At the risk of being subjected to your Taser, I was wondering if he should be judged.”

“Takes two to tango,” she reminds him.

He squirms. “Unless one person is overpowered.”

It hits her, and she laughs. “I promise you, sweetheart, if I’d been raped, you would have already heard about it. Assuming I came out alive, I’d make sure everyone knew exactly why I had doled out such a torturous death. No, this was just a case of me being stupid with contraception.”

“Can you look in your family’s bestiary?”

“According to it, a woman who has consensual sex with a known werewolf should be killed. A woman who’s raped by a werewolf should have a miscarriage induced,” she tells him. “That particular topic hasn’t been updated since the days when even hunter women were still property.”

“What if she had consensual sex but didn’t know?”

“Unless it was her husband, she was still guilty of whoredom,” she answers. “I guess if the husband was turned and didn’t tell her, it’d be considered akin to rape.”

“I’ll find out for you. And don’t worry; I’ll make sure you don’t come up.”

“Thanks,” she sighs. “Come in. I’m not bringing that thing back out here.”

“About the robber-”

“I’ll let the police deal with her, for now. I can always track her, later, if the police continue to be useless.”

…

“You were supposed to being watching her, Kate.”

She takes a deep breath. “She isn’t a baby, Chris. I dropped her off at the McCall house, and McCall got an emergency call from his boss. She decided to tag along. Some druggie pulling a gun and putting her and Scott in the freezer wasn’t my fault.”

“I knew I should have been firm and made her wait until this summer. She always manages to get in trouble or be put in danger when I trust you.”

“I’m hanging up, now,” she says.

When she does, she finds herself looking at the nightstand containing the handgun Gerard taught her to shoot with.

“Kate, are you okay?”

Looking over, she sees Allison has come in. “Yeah. I’m fine, sweetheart. Want to piss your mom and dad off by coming back without me?”

Allison grins before asking in concern, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just want to make sure I have all my bases covered with Derek before I give your parents my final report.”

…

“What he did fit within the code. Whatever disagreements we may have with it, he can reveal himself and offer it to whoever he wants, within reason. These kids are smart, were told everything, and from what I can gather, they took the time to make an informed decision. I’ve made sure they know what happens if they ever hurt humans.”

“Kate-”

Rolling her eyes, she waits.

“I’m sorry for earlier.”

“Are you dying, Chris?”

He scoffs. “I know I’m overprotective of Allison, and I know you and I both did things the other disagreed with when we were younger. But I also know you’d do anything to protect her. I shouldn’t have gone off like I did.”

“Hey, it’s fine. I’m used to it.”

“I’d like it if we could get along better.”

Bowing her head, she closes her eyes. “Yeah, so do I. Look, if you want, I’ll come down in a week or two, and we can talk face-to-face.”

“I’d like that.”

“See you then, big brother.”

…

“Don’t,” she orders Derek. “I know I look like crap. Sleep has decided I’m not worthy of its presence. Just please, tell me you’ve found something out.”

“Here." He hands her a wrapped plate. “From Erica. Has food also declared itself an enemy?”

“I sleep better when I’m hungry,” she informs him. “Don’t ask.”

As she digs into the food, he says, “Here’s what I’ve been able to found out…”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how common it is, but studies have confirmed suicidal thoughts and/or clinical depression triggered by pregnancy is a real thing. There doesn't have to be any trauma surrounding conception or even in the woman's life for it to manifest. More commonly, pregnancy can exacerbate mental issues the woman is already dealing with.


End file.
